Kevin Stansbury, the CEO of Lincoln Community Hospital in the 800-person town of Hugo, Colorado, is facing a classic Catch-22: He could boost his rural hospital's revenues by offering hip replacements and shoulder surgeries, but the 64-year-old hospital needs more money to be able to expand its operating room to do those procedures.

"I've got a surgeon that's willing to do it. My facility isn't big enough," Stansbury said. "And urgent services like obstetrics I can't do in my hospital, because my facility won't meet code."

Besides securing additional revenue for the hospital, such an expansion could keep locals from having to drive the 100 miles to Denver for orthopedic surgeries or to deliver babies.